Collapsed water networks push Gaza camps to the brink

Shafaq News – Gaza (Updated on Oct. 1, at 8:00)

Thousands of displaced people in the Gaza Strip are enduring a severe humanitarian crisis as drinking water runs scarce and sewage networks collapse, heightening the risk of disease outbreaks.

Ismail al-Burno, a resident of Gaza, said families are facing “a suffocating water shortage,” explaining that only one or two tankers arrive each week — far too little to cover basic needs.

From Rafah, Marah Wadi described her journey of displacement through Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah. “Some days I had no water at all while caring for children and the elderly,” she recounted, calling the situation unbearable.

Read more: Water and fuel scarce: Gazans struggle to survive

At the Islamic Dawa College shelter, Director Abdel Raouf Qutati explained that the main water lines had been destroyed, forcing about 2,000 displaced people to depend on a single tap at the Martyrs of the Land Hospital. He stressed that this lone source now serves dozens of shelters, creating long queues that last for hours.

According to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Gaza’s water and sanitation system has been systematically devastated since October 2023, with strikes destroying wells, pipelines, and desalination units. UN experts have called Israel’s restriction of water a violation of international law and “a crime against humanity,” while the NRC warned that shrinking fuel supplies and funding could soon halt deliveries altogether.